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IRS Tax Data

Campus Policy: Financial Aid

The Financial Aid office is required to collect your official tax data as a part of processing your financial aid application. If you filed taxes, your tax information can be provided either through the FAFSA IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) or through an IRS Tax Return Transcript. If you have been selected for Verification, we cannot complete your verification unless your tax information is received.

The IRS Data Retrieval Tool (IRS DRT) allows students and parents who filed a U.S tax return with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to access the IRS tax return information needed to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), and transfer the data directly into their FAFSA.

If you are eligible to use the IRS DRT, we highly recommend using the tool for several reasons:

  1. It’s the easiest way to provide your tax return information.
  2. It’s the best way of ensuring that your FAFSA has accurate tax information.
  3. You won’t need to provide a copy of your or your parents’ tax returns to your college.

If you use the IRS DRT to transfer your tax return information from the IRS, the information will not display on your FAFSA. For your protection, the answer to each question is replaced with “Transferred from the IRS.”

Students or parents who are married and filed as Married Filing Separately, are married and filed as Head of Household, or filed a Puerto Rican or foreign tax return are not eligible to use the IRS DRT, and will need to enter their tax return information manually.

The IRS DRT allows you to securely transfer original IRS tax return information, but not Form 1040X amended tax return information. If you filed a Form 1040X amended tax return, you may need to work with your Financial Aid Administrator to ensure that any information you corrected on Form 1040X is reflected in the amounts transferred to your FAFSA.

You can also review the steps to use the DRT at the IRS’s website.

  1. Log onto FAFSA (fafsa.gov) and click on Make FAFSA Corrections. If you have already started a correction but did not complete it, click Continue and enter the Password created when you started the correction.
  2. If you are a Dependent student, select the “Parent Demographics” tab. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Next.
    • Enter Mother’s/Father’s PIN, then click “Link to IRS”. Make sure the “None of the above” box is selected so that the IRS link button appears.
    • If you are an Independent student, select the “Financial Information” tab, then click “Link to IRS”. Make sure the “None of the above” box is selected so that the IRS link button appears.
  3. There will be a pop-up telling you that you are leaving the FAFSA page, click OK.
  4. Once the IRS website appears, there will be a pop-up notifying you that you are on the IRS website, click OK.
  5. Fill in the required information, click Submit.
  6. You will see the summary of the tax information from the IRS, scroll to the bottom of the page and check the box that says “Transfer My Tax Information into the FAFSA.”
  7. Then click the “Transfer Now” button. It will take you back to the FAFSA application. Do Not Change any information that was transferred from the IRS (indicated by “Transferred From IRS”).
  8. Review your application to make sure it is complete since the IRS Data Retrieval Tool transfers only some of the information needed.
  9. Once you are done, click the “Sign and Submit” tab.
  10. Sign your application using your Student’s PIN Number. If you are dependent, you will also need to sign using your Mother’s/Father’s PIN Number. Be sure to select Agree, then go ahead and submit/re-submit the application.

If you are unable to use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool, you can order your Tax Return Transcript through the IRS Web site at: irs.gov/Individuals/Get-Transcript.
If you are having problems ordering your transcript online, you may contact the IRS at 1-800-908-9946 to order a Return Transcript by phone. You may also visit the Honolulu IRS Office at 300 Ala Moana Blvd or the IRS office nearest you.

Tax Transcripts

Tax Return Transcripts can be requested directly from the IRS by visiting irs.gov and selecting “Get a Tax Transcript”, then choosing “Get Transcript by Mail”, once you have entered your information choose the “Tax Return Transcript” option. You can also contact the IRS for assistance with requesting a Tax Return Transcript. Electronic tax filers can expect it to take up to two weeks for their IRS information to be available for the DRT. Paper tax filers can expect it to take up to eight weeks for their IRS information to be available for the DRT. Please complete Section F.

Get tax transcripts

Non-Tax Filers

If you and/or your parent(s) will not file and are not required to file a 2015 income tax return with the IRS, but earned income from work in 2015, you and/or your parent(s) are required to provide information about your income(s). Information about who is required to file can be found at irs.gov. If you are required to file a return but have not, you must file your return to be considered for Federal Student Aid.

Non-Filing Letter Form (PDF)